Tenure

The question is asked me if it is not a mistake to remove the president of a State conference to a new field when many of the people under his present charge are unwilling to give him up.PCL 159.3

The Lord has been pleased to give me light on this question. I have been shown that ministers should not be retained in the same district year after year, nor should the same man long preside over a conference. A change of gifts is for the good of our conferences and churches. . . .PCL 159.4

The president may not feel the importance of sanctifying himself, that others may be sanctified. He may be an unfaithful watchman, preaching to please the people. Many are strong in some points of character, while they are weak and deficient in others. As the result, a want of efficiency is manifest in some parts of the work. Should the same man continue as president of a conference year after year, his defects would be reproduced in the churches under his labors. But one laborer may be strong where his brother is weak, and so by exchanging fields of labor, one may, to some extent, supply the deficiencies of another. —GW 419-421 (1915)PCL 159.5

I am more than ever convinced that the same men should not be presidents of the same conferences year after year. They are to do their work after the divine similitude. And the same men should not be held year after year as advisors in committees or boards. Changes must be made, for these men come to think themselves a necessity; that the work will not prosper without their wisdom. There is great danger that their wisdom will become foolishness because they trust in themselves in the place of making God their trust. Rather than to hide in Jesus Christ and be worked by the Holy Spirit, they plan and devise methods to carry out the projects of their own minds, in order to make a show. Then the artful, deceptive working of Satan comes in, and men handling sacred responsibilities move in strange ways, and handle strange fire. They do not feel the sacredness of the work, and the importance of working in humility and contrition before God.—Letter 89, 1896 (September 24)PCL 160.1

Change develops character—A life of monotony is not the most conducive to spiritual growth. Some can reach the highest standard of spirituality only through the breaking up of the regular order of things. It is often necessary to change men into different positions.PCL 160.2

God desires human beings to be more closely associated with Him. Therefore He takes them away from their friends and acquaintances. When God was preparing Elijah for translation, He moved him from place to place, that he might leave behind the methods and customs he had previously followed, that he might not settle down on his lees, and thus fail of obtaining moral greatness and spiritual soundness. It was God’s design that Elijah’s influence should be a power to help many souls to a more perfect experience.PCL 161.1

Let those who are not permitted to rest in quietude, who must be constantly on the move, pitching their tent tonight in one place and tomorrow night in another place, remember that the Lord is leading them, and that this is His way of helping them to form perfect characters. In all the changes we are required to make, God is to be recognized as our Companion, our Guide, our Stronghold, and our Dependence. . . .PCL 161.2

The Lord has various ways of testing and proving His people. Again and again He has brought about changes to see whether His human agents will keep His commandments. When in His providence He sees that changes are essential for character building, He breaks up the smooth current of the life. He orders that changes shall be made, so that His worker shall not stagnate by following the regular order.—Letter 59, 1901 (June 5)PCL 161.3